Hell's Gift
by Versus
Summary: Zaku groaned. First, the detention, then the girl, and now Dosu. His life couldn’t get possibly worse. Sound nin highschool AU
1. Chapter 1

_I don't see the meaning of school. It's… Stupid, really. I mean, all you do is go there, learn stuff, go home, and then come back the next day. _"It's good for your future," _They say. _"One day, you'll look back, and enjoy these memories." _And, I used to brush them off. _"Bullshit," _I'd say, with a look of distaste. What were they here but to turn us all into mindless businessmen! But when I look back, I guess I start to understand a little… After all, it was the only way I actually met _them.

_Who am I? No one in particular. Who are they? No one you need to know. We're all… Just there… That's what I've always felt. So when _he_ came along, I was thrilled, I was acknowledged finally… But… … … Maybe I should start from the beginning, huh? Where it all started? … By the way, the name's Zaku. Not like it matters._

The boy scowled at his reflection. He could see the bags under his eyes. But, it wasn't what was really bothering him. A hand tried to comb down the unruly hair that sprang in all directions. It was no use, it was like it was permanently going to grow like that. Oh well, it's not like he cared… It was just… Zaku scowled again, shrugged.

How long had it been since he'd seen his family? Ages? Decades? It didn't matter. They were worthless bastards anyways. They did nothing to help Zaku, so why should he care? After all, now he had his own place, his housing prices and food were provided for him, Zaku didn't need to worry about anything… Well, anything but keeping his grades up, that is. Otherwise, his housing and food would be demolished, and he'd be left in the streets. Again.

Maybe it was hard, to picture the youth as one of the top freshmen in his high school… No one took him seriously… Except for the principal of course… After all, who could picture Zaku - with his messed up dark brown hair, dark cold eyes, and his skateboard at hand – as someone "talented" or "special." But, it's not like Zaku cared anyways. To him, all that mattered was staying alive. And Zaku had always thought that he mastered that a long time ago…

"Crud…" A quick mutter of curses followed as Zaku noticed the time flashing upon the only clock in his two-roomed apartment. 7: 41. School would start in nineteen minutes. Quickly, with a flurry of clothes and belongings, the boy rushed out of the door, locked it, and picked up the skateboard resting upon the doorframe.

Dosu found his mind wandering to the empty seat next to him. Zaku was late. Again. It was no doubt that his friend had spent too long in front of the mirror, and then decided that it was too bothersome to actually do anything with the hair. Zaku was so predictable. The principal wouldn't be pleased. Dosu sighed, his hand snaked over his blonde head, and then rested upon the notebook in front of him.

The classroom door burst open, and there was Zaku, his hair even more windblown than ever, and his shirt only half tucked into his pants. The backpack slung carelessly over his shoulder was half open, almost ready to spill all of the precious belongings all over the floor.

"You're late, Zaku," the teacher looked up from her book. "You missed the lab that we just did. You'll have to make up it after school. Is it really that hard to get to school on time just once?"

Zaku glared at the woman, "I was preoccupied," he muttered, before walking to his seat. He ignored the stares of fellow classmates, and whispered to Dosu, "That bitch."

Dosu shrugged. "You should really try to get on time though… Orochimaru will be mad…"

Sighing, Zaku dropped his backpack onto the ground, "It's always Orochimaru this, or Orochimaru that… I'm coming to think you're one of those groveling idiots like The Five and their Leader. '_Ooooh, Orochimaru, you're soooo cool, cus you freakin' let us skip ten billion grades! We loooooovvvee you!_'" Zaku rolled his eyes.

"… They only skipped two…" Dosu whispered, half to himself, and to the friend that sat next to him.

Zaku continued his rant, "And that freakin' bastard, what's-his-face… I think it was something like a beetle… I mean, he's like, nineteen, and he's already the vice principal! What was Orochimaru thinking? _And_ he's our doc- OW!"

Chuckles ran through the classroom as Zaku glared up at the teacher in front of him. "What exactly do you not get about Silent Reading, Zaku?"

"… The silent part," Zaku retorted. It earned him another whack on the head.

"Please get to reading, young man, or I'll have to send you to the principal. I don't want to hear another word from your mouth."

Zaku growled, but kept his mouth shut. He scowled at the teacher's back as she retreated back to her desk. Dosu sighed, the impulsive idiot.

The door silently creaked open, and the classroom shifted, staring at the girl that now stood in the doorframe. She didn't cower under their eyes, and asked quietly, "Is this room 5-D?"

The teacher looked up and smiled, "Why, yes… Are you the new student, Kin Tsuchi?"

The girl nodded, pulling a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"I see you haven't gotten your uniform yet," the teacher nodded towards the girl's strange clothing. Zaku snorted, earning a glare from the teacher.

The girl nodded, "They said I'll get it next week."

"I didn't know it'd take the teach' that long to realize…" Zaku muttered to Dosu, who chuckled at Zaku's wry comment. Of course, the newcomer's attire was rather… Unusual…

_The first time I saw her, it was definitely nothing like, _"Oh joy, she'll be Dosu and my bestest friend ever!" _we never even expected her to grow on us. We found her weird, unusual. She had a long mane of hair, and the style she had was definitely something we didn't see often. She was from a whole different world, where you wore skirts over your pants, and wore a scarf in the hottest of days. _

_The air around her had seemed so strange. She didn't have the 'beaten-back' air around her like everyone else. After all, we all came from exceptionally bad families here…And here she was, acting like she was some rich snob, someone who'd never earned _one_ hardship. No one liked her._ _At first, anyways…_

"You can sit right there, Kin. Zaku, raise your hand! Just that seat right behind him," the teacher pointed the boy out, and Kin nodded.

"Thank you," Kin smiled. Slowly, she maneuvered her way through the crooked rows, and settled down in her seat behind Zaku. She ignored the stares going her way, and took out a clean notebook as the teacher cleared her throat.

"Now, I'll start our lesson about persuasive essays…" The teacher turned to the board, and class began again.

"Dude, did you check out the new chick?"

"Yeah, she's totally… Weird…"

"But I bet she'd be hot in the school uniform."

"Anyone's hot in that."

Chuckles ran through the small group of boys.

"Dude, here she comes!"

Heads turned Kin's way, the boys watched as she walked towards a small tree farther in the distance. As they stared at her, she set down her pack, and turned her back on them, facing the opposite direction of the group.

"… Do you think she knows that's _Zaku's_ tree?"

"Dude, you forgot it's Dosu's too."

"Yeah, but you don't wanna mess with _Zaku_."

"… Wait… Why?"

"Did you hear about the senior that pissed him off the other day…?"

"You're at our tree."

Kin looked up from her notebook, slowly closing it. "I didn't know a tree could be considered someone's," she merely replied, taking out a small CD player from her pack.

Zaku twitched. "Well, I own it. Now why don't you find somewhere else to go and eat?" Zaku set down his backpack. Today was bad enough now that he had a detention after school. _Now_ some low-class girl was coming around and acting like she _owned_ the place.

Kin ignored the boy, and quickly put her headphones on, her gaze now set on the rusted gate near the entrance of the school.

Zaku growled. She was tuning him out. Muttering to himself, Zaku sat down. He scowled up at his standing friend, and muttered, "Aren't you going to sit?"

Slowly, the blonde sat down next to Zaku and pulled out his lunch, munching it thoughtfully.

A small, familiar tune reached Zaku's ears, drifting in and out of the silent air. Silently, Zaku turned to the girl on the opposite side of the tree. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, and stopped. He was supposed to be mad at this girl for stealing his spot… Just because she just happened to be listening to his favorite Indies band was nothing… He should ignore her… He turned away, and continued to glare angrily at anyone who passed by.

"Hey, isn't that The Raven, by Hell's Gift?" Dosu sat comfortably next to Kin. He smiled sheepishly as the girl turned to him.

"Uh… Yeah…" she stared at him for a while, "You like them too?"

Dosu grinned, "Zaku and I are fans of them! They make the best music ever!" He watched as the girl couldn't fight back a smile.

"Yeah, they rock."

Zaku groaned. First, the detention, then the girl, and now Dosu.

His life couldn't get possibly worse.

—

A/N: Yeah, I know, the whole "Konoha High" thing is overrated. But, I tried a twist. Look how original I am. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic.) Hell's Gift is not any band that I know of, so, I'm sorry if I copied someone's band name, I didn't mean to. The Raven is not a real song, it's, once again, made up. This _is_ my first ever fanfic that I've ever written, so please don't be too critical on it.

If any characters are OOC in any way in this chapter, (I hope not, considering Dosu, Zaku, and Kin are barely mentioned in the Anime series, or the Manga) I apologize. Dearly. I know _I_ hate it when characters are too OOC.

And I have nothing against the sound 5 or Kabuto… In fact, I happen to like Kabuto very much. But this is Zaku talking, not me.

**I suppose I'll but the disclaimer here:**

**I don't own the sound nin or any other Naruto characters going to be mentioned in this story, Kishimoto does.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Kin was never the type that you meet and immediately like. She's like a parasite, really. She just sticks with you, and you sort of get tired of telling her to go away, to stop bothering you. Then, she grows on you, and you realize, she isn't such a bad kid. I suppose that's what happened with Dosu and me. We just let her grow on us._

"Hey, do you think the new teacher'll wear that hecka short skirt today?" Zaku peeked into the window, trying to catch a glance inside the faculty room.

Dosu rolled his eyes, "Don't be ridiculous, the vice principal gave her a note telling her that half of the boy population was drooling over her underwear. Anyways, I saw her sporting a pair of jeans today."

Groaning, Zaku turned to look at Kin, who had tagged along for some strange reason. He could hear her headphones going off again. Kin had always liked music. If Zaku recalled, she said she had wanted to be a musician when she grew up… Or something like that…

Kin looked up, and gave a small grin at Zaku as she took off her headphones, "I didn't know you were one of those boys who looked at swimsuit magazines, Zaku." The small grin started to turn into a smirk as Kin pushed herself off of the wall she had been leaning on and dusted off her new school uniform.

Zaku scowled, then said, "Well, it's not like you had to follow."

Dosu just smiled quietly before saying, "It's about time to get back to class. We can talk about this later, I guess." Zaku scoffed and followed after the retreating figure of Dosu. Kin quickly followed after them.

The man stood, staring out the faculty room window, watching as the three teens slowly made way back to class. Orochimaru was right… Of course, he was _always_ right… But, at first, he had doubted that those two would actually make friends with the girl. Of course, Orochimaru never doubted…

Someone behind the man cleared her throat, "Ahem… Sir… Um, there's a call from the office of a Konoha, School of Talents. They were talking about a… substitute job?"

The man turned, "Ah, thank you, Matsuo, I'll get to it right away." He smiled and readjusted his glasses, and walked out of the door, not aware of the shudder that ran along the woman's back. That smile always seemed so unnerving… Like he'd just come up to you one day and stab you in the back. With that same smile on.

"UGH! That lesson took FOREVER," Kin sighed and yawned. "I can't believe she gave us so much homework too! I'll never get it done!"

Dosu shrugged, "Well, it's not like we have a choice. Remember, anyone with a D or lower in their grades gets kicked out of school. Those with a C need to watch out, or The Five might pay them a visit."

Kin shuddered, "Those are some freaky little kids, that's for sure."

Zaku shrugged, he held Kin's CD player in his hand, listening to the music coming from the headphones. "Hey, Kin, did you hear? They're releasing a new album. I heard they're gonna go on a small tour. They're coming here. We should go some time."

Dosu grinned as Kin cheered, "Yeah! We can so meet them! I've been wondering what Hara looks like… I bet he's got dreamy blue eyes."

Zaku snorted, "More like pimples the size of walnuts all over his forehead."

"You're just jealous that you can't sing as good as him!"

"Yeah right! And your guitar playing sucks!"

"I _just_ started!"

"And don't get me started on Dosu's _drum playing_."

"Why bring _me_ into the conversation! What did I do?"

_Yeah, we were a loud group. But, we didn't expect much of ourselves, I mean, who could really do a three-man band? Or, two men and one woman band… Kin kept insisting that… The idea died easily. We ended up just talking about how cool it would be if we could find a bass player. We all excelled in our grades, keeping to the top of our class. I guess that's what got the principal interested in us. I guess that's why I'm here, Dosu's there, and Kin's gone. Maybe we should have just stuck to being normal kids._

Kin rocked back and forth on her heels, her hands clutched tightly together behind her back. She stared at the other two boys sitting down across from her and whispered, "How can you two NOT be nervous! I mean, in the middle of class, we're called up to the office, and they all looked so serious!"

Dosu shrugged, "No need to be so nervous. We've all managed with A's. And you've only got one B. I don't see why they would be mad at all."

Zaku nodded, "And, anyways, it's not like that B's a big deal anyways. Your last school was way behind compared to this math class."

Kin sighed, and pulled at a strand of hair. She seemed to always do that when she became nervous. And, although her composure now seemed of confidence, the trembling hands idly combing through the strands told of something close to a nervous breakdown.

"It's no big deal, Kin. We'll all be fine. Don't worry," Dosu got up and stretched. "The secretary's coming anyways."

A door opened to the side of Zaku, and out stepped a young woman. She looked down at the three and nodded, "The principal will be seeing you three now."

Slowly, Dosu walked through the door, followed by Zaku. Kin stayed behind a bit, took a deep breath, and stepped in behind the boys. The door closed behind them as the secretary left to do other business.

_That day, I was nervous too. Just not as nervous as Kin, I guess. But, I _was_ nervous. The principal, Orochimaru, had seen our grades, seen our "exceptional" abilities to do our homework. He commended us, asked for how we were doing, that sort of stuff. Kin was frightened of him at first, it being her first time seeing him. He _was_ slightly frightful, of course. With his long, greasy black hair, and pale, sickly skin. He looked more like an outcast from some sort of band than the principal of a prestigious high school. I say Kin was scared by his looks._

_She insisted that it was her female intuition that something horrible was going on. I used to laugh her off… Maybe I shouldn't have laughed._

"I can't believe that was _all_ he was gonna talk about," Kin sighed in relief, and shouldered her backpack. She straightened her uniform a bit as Zaku and Dosu walked out of the door.

Dosu shrugged, "I told you we'd be fine."

Zaku chuckled, "And here you were, worrying about being murdered in cold blood. You're such a girl."

Kin scowled at Zaku, "What's that supposed to mean?'

"Exactly as how it was said."

"Well, then, you're such a boy!"

"… I don't get it."

A/N: Yup, Chapter 2. Wonderful.

Also, I don't do pairings… Because I'm not exactly skilled in the art of lovey-dovey happy stuff like that… Sorry.

Thanks for the reviews.

Chapter 3 will come someday.


	3. Chapter 3

_The days passed by fast at our school. It was a repetitive cycle, day after day we would go to our classes, learn things that we'll probably never apply to our future work, and then head off back home with loads of homework. But, soon, around mid April, something happened. It was a big thing, this whole something, something major, that I never thought would drag Dosu, Kin, and me into a whole big mess._

The hallways were bustling, lockers were slamming closed, and the idle chatter of students echoed along the clean, nicely built building. That is, until a certain group slowly walked their way through the halls. A young boy led the pack, holding a grey packet in his hand tightly. Following close by were four others, their eyes staying ahead of them, each face held a scowl on it.

The boy turned around, then stared placidly at the quiet crowd. He had stopped at the bulletin board, where the Sound Five always posted the news they got from the principal. In a clear, unwavering voice he said, "As you know, the Academic Tournament is coming up. We will be calling up the names of the few who will be expected to take the entry test into this tournament. The entry test is only open to nine members. These nine members will then be limited to a select three members. These will be the people representing the school in the national Academic Tournament. Please step up once your name is called so Kidoumaru can lead you to the testing room."

A red headed girl took her place along the boy, and then snatched the packet out of his hand, ignoring the scowl she received from the other. "Abumi Zaku, Akira Akimoto, Masahiro Takahashi, Miharu Ishimaru, Kinuta Dosu, Taiga Ogawa, Taiki Suzuki, Tsuchi Kin,Yoshikuni Kazuma, please step forward."

A hush fell along the hallway. It was unheard of that the Sound Five weren't in the entry test. Every year, they were in. Kin stepped forward first, then, slowly, the others followed.

Kidoumaru turned, a slight frown on his face as he walked briskly towards another building, "The principal has been kind enough to leave us the faculty room for you to take the test. This is time to _take_ the test, but not to _fool around._ Any bad behavior in this room will not be taken lightly."

Laying a stack of tests on the table, the young boy added, "I think you all know what to do, just take a test, and get to work, I'll come back in two hours." The door slammed after him, and left a tense, quiet room.

"Soo… Uh…" Zaku shifted uncomfortably, such a weird situation… He had nothing to say for once.

"We should get going on the test," Kin broke the uncomfortable silence, and walked towards the table, taking a test firmly in her hands. "C'mon, just take one and do it. It's not like we're gonna die."

_I wonder if Kin ever got that women's intuition thing during that test. I mean, it did lead to horrible things. But I'll never really know exactly _what _she thought. It wasn't like we ever saw anything after **that **happened… I suppose I can tell you about **the thing that happened.** But I'll save it for later, if you really care that much… The time that we took the test seemed to race by, in my opinion, and soon, we were all done. It was quiet though, we were all a little unnerved. After all, everyone knew that it was the Sound Five that usually represented us in the knowledge tournament. Especially against our rivals, Konoha, School of Talents. Konoha, being a larger and richer school, could afford more representatives than we could. So we usually sent the best of the best there. _

"Maaan, that was easy!" Kin grinned, stretching slightly as the trio stepped out of the door.

"Says the one who took FOREVER on it," was Zaku's sharp retort.

"I was double-checking! Duh!" Kin scowled at the other, and pointed an accusing finger at him, "And at least I wasn't groaning every other problem!" She proceeded to imitate the other, waving her hands wildly and rolling her eyes for added effect, "'OMG! I can't get this one!' 'GR! I should know this!' 'UGH! Stupid fractions!'"

Zaku just scowled, and was about to start yelling when Dosu shushed them, "This IS the hallway, and everyone else is taking class right now. We should get going to history…"

The other two nodded and quickly followed after Dosu.

The three sat outside on the benches, two of them patiently waiting for their rides to come. A raggedy buggy came crashing by, stopping with a sharp screech. A woman stuck her head out the window and yelled, "Dosu! Get your ass over here! I've got a party to entertain. When you get home, get to your room, do your homework, and don't come out!"

Dosu just sighed and shouldered his pack; he turned to the others, forcing a smile, "See you guys tomorrow."

Kin nodded as Zaku added, "If your mom gets drunk again, you can crash at my place."

Dosu just nodded and stepped in. The buggy quickly swerved out of the driveway, and thundered out into the road.

Eventually, a black car drove up, and stopped at the curb. Kin got up, waving to her father in the driver's seat, "Hey dad!" Her dad just smiled and Kin climbed in. She waved bye to Zaku before it drove away.

Zaku shrugged and set down his skate board, and quickly skated off to his apartment.

A stream of laughter filtered through the room from the small television set, and Zaku snorted slightly at the joke as he sipped idly on his soda. This was always his favorite part… He brought a spoonful of soup up to his mouth, his eyes still glued firmly to the screen. He had finished his homework already, and he could hear the rain outside, pounding at the windows. He cocked his head slightly to the side when he heard a pounding on the door.

Slowly, Zaku got up, pushing his dinner to the side as he walked over to the door. As the door creaked open, his eyes fell upon a drenched Dosu and Kin, "… What the hell're you two doing here?!"

The two shrugged almost simultaneously before both saying, "Ran away."

Zaku groaned and let the two in, shutting the door behind them. "You better not get the carpet wet, or I'll kill you," he muttered as he threw two towels at the two. Dosu just smiled slightly as he dried off his hair. Kin draped the towel around her shoulders.

Turning to the two, Zaku sighed and pointed to Dosu, "You. Your mom probably got drunk again." Dosu nodded. Then, Zaku turned to Kin, "And you're probably just mad at _your _parents… So you're both crashing at my place, right?" As the two nodded, he sighed, scratching his head, "You guys are lucky it's the weekend…"

Kin cheered and Dosu just chuckled as they watched Zaku drag out blankets and pillows from a nearby closet. Zaku grinned, "I got pillows this time. So you guys can't steal mine."

A/N: Sorry for such a LONG wait. I was waaayy procrastinate-y when it came to this fanfic. Anyways, thanks for being so patient, and I've made the plot go on JUST a little faster. I've made up the pasts for Dosu and Kin, since I'm so wonderful at bs-ing stuff. Hopefully, from the story, you can find that Dosu's mom is single and a drunkard and that Kin has a fairly well life, but she hates it anyways.

Don't expect for Chapter 4 to come very soon. I have way too much homework to be healthy…


	4. Chapter 4

_Kin had family problems that no one knew about. Even I didn't know about them at that time. Anything I learned about it was after the incident. After everything happened. I still can't thoroughly understand why Kin did that. I don't understand how her family could've caused it. Her family seemed so… Perfect. But perfect things have always been fragile. All of the things I've learned about Kin were all from others, from past friends, Dosu, and from her parents. I think they regret doing some things…_

Zaku sighed and stared down at the two who were still sleeping. It was amazing, that these two still hadn't gotten up yet… He glared at the clock he kept in the living room and then shrugged. He might as well cook a breakfast… Hadn't done that in a while…

He frowned at the door to the kitchen, before slowly walking through the swinging door and turning on the stove.

Dosu was the first of the still sleeping to stir. He groaned slightly, rubbing at his hair, then looked furtively around. A hand slowly made it's what to his long sleeved shirt where he lifted up the sleeve, then winced at the bruises already forming. He shook his head, and slowly got out of the sheets that had been draped carelessly around him. Tugging down his shirt, he sniffed the air before pushing through the door to Zaku's kitchen. "Hey."

Zaku looked up from the bacon sizzling in his pan, then grinned, "Yo, go get some eggs from the fridge, and makes some scrambled eggs."

The other boy just shrugged, slowly making his way towards the fridge, his movements still sluggish from sleep.

"Kin's such a slob, she always sleeps in…" Zaku yawned and continued to watch his bacon carefully.

Dosu looked at Zaku, then looked away, "She hasn't told you, huh?"

"… What?"

"Her parents want her to switch out of Oto. They want her to go to Konoha. Something about it being more prestigious…"

"… Are you shitting me?"

"No."

There was silence, and only the sound of eggs being scrambled and the quiet sizzling of bacon filled the small kitchen.

"… Aren't you gonna tell me more?"

Dosu sighed, a hand was brought to his forehead from his imaginary headache as he said, "Kin refused, and they got in a fight. They said she shouldn't be hanging out with delinquents like us," Dosu winced at the word 'delinquents' before continuing, "Her dad… He threw stuff at her… Not big stuff, just small stuff. A couple of pens, a tissue box… But… You know her… She gets her feelings hurt easily…"

Pondering the story for a second Zaku then quietly replied, "… Do you think it's gonna get worse?"

"What?"

"… What if her dad, y'know, gets angrier? You know about Chiaki's dad, right? He started with small things… And then, well, you remember when he beat her, right?"

Silence filled the kitchen again. Zaku quietly flipped the bacon onto a nearby plate.

"I don't think Kin's dad would do that… He wouldn't… right?" There was a pleading in Dosu's voice as he asked that. He seemed to hesitate, as if to say something, then stopped. "She's too fragile for that to happen. She might end up like Akio…"

Silence again.

The two boys stiffened slightly as Kin opened the door to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "I smell bacon" a smile spread across her face as she bent to sniff the aromas of the still-steaming bacon in the plate next to Zaku. She then frowned at the eggs that Dosu was still scrambling, "… Those look like they're well-mixed… Dosu… Don't need to beat them to a pulp…"

Zaku and Dosu winced at the analogy. "Errr… Yeah, Dosu, get me those eggs… Before you… Beat them… Hehehehe," Zaku snatched the eggs away as nervous laughter filled the room.

Kin frowned, then shrugged, going out the kitchen door as she called over her shoulder, "You guys are so weird…"

As a silence filled the room again, Zaku quickly cooked the eggs and Dosu sat on the nearby counter in silence. They heard the static of a television being turned on in the living room.

Dosu was the first one to get up, "I'll help you with the food."

_Dosu was always the first at everything. He was the first to finish a test, the first to finish eating, the first to do just about everything but get up in the morning. I wonder if that was a sign for what would come to pass… Was everything just a premonition of what was going to happen? Could we really expect so much to happen so fast? Why did everything so easily fall apart? … Wow, I used big words…_

"The results are out!" it was a shriek more than an exclamation through the hallways as silence brushed through the hall.

All head turned towards the bulletin, and of the chosen few that walked up, Dosu was the first to read it out loud in an unsteady voice, "Abumi Zaku, Kinuta Dosu, and Tsuchi Kin. Congratulations on your test scores and be prepared to represent Oto in the Academic Tournament. Make us proud!"

Students clambered to congratulate and shake hands with the mentioned three, and the friends took the slaps on their backs and grins with silence. They stared at each other for a second, before shrugging. The mob slowly dimmed down to four or three people, and as a bell rang in the distance, others rushed to their rooms. The trio slowly marched their way to math, pondering on what sort of fate could've gotten them into the Academic Tournament, and what was laid ahead for them.

Orochimaru grinned at his subordinate from his comfy leather chair, his white hands were planted upon his desk as he heard the report of Kabuto.

Kabuto cleared his throat, pushing up his glasses slightly, "I've just gotten myself a place in the Academic Tournament. It seems that a lot from Konoha have tried and gotten in with perfect scores…"

Orochimaru nodded, "And the scores of the chosen three?"

A small smirk rose on Kabuto's face, "Just as you expected. They are merely mediocre. But well above average. Some of the others had better test grades, but I chose those three. Your judgement has always been right."

Orochimaru chuckled slightly, "You flatter me, Kabuto. Now, go off and see to it that your infiltration of Konoha is a success. I'm counting on you."

"Of course, Orochimaru."

"So, if you'll just fill out these forms, we'll get you to meeting your faculty mentor," the woman handed three sheets of paper to Kin, Dosu, and Zaku before leaving.

Dosu frowned slightly at the form, before quickly filling out all of the information.

"Awww man, more forms? What do they think we're gonna do, have a heart attack while doing the debate?!" Zaku groaned to himself, but kept on filling in the forms, "I mean, look at this shit! 'We are not liable for any injuries that will happen within this tournament.' It's a freakin' academics test, not a military obstacle!"

Dosu sighed, "Just fill out the forms…" He stole a glance back at Kin, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet since they entered the room. He shrugged and went onto his sheet of paper. Maybe her mood swing was some weird girly hormone thing…

The trio looked up as the door to their room creaked open. In stepped a young man. He smiled down at the three teenagers in front of him and nodded, "Hello, I'm Otoshi, I'll be your teacher mentor throughout this tournament."

The three nodded, and Zaku whispered noisily to Kin, "He looks sorta like Orochimaru, huh?"

Otoshi picked up on the noisy whisper and smiled slightly, "Haha, lots of people say that. I'm distantly related to him."

Silence filled the room as everyone absorbed the information before Dosu spoke up, "I've never heard of you before… What class do you teach at Oto High?"

Otoshi laughed, "Ah, ever the inquisitive one, hm, Dosu? Well, I teach the classes for the 'special' students. The ones that need more practice and that are rather suffering in grades. You don't hear of me because, as you know, it's rather shameful to be taking those type of classes."

Dosu nodded at the answer, but didn't look very pleased with the answer. However, before he could get any more out of Otoshi, the teacher was already getting up to leave, "I have an appointment to take care of, so if you all don't mind, I'll be off. It was a pleasure to meet you all. I hope to see you all improving in the tournament!"

As the teacher left the room, Dosu turned towards the others, "… I don't trust that guy."

"Eh? I thought he was pretty nice…." Kin murmured back, eyes narrowed in confusion.

Dosu shrugged, "It's just a feeling… I dunno… Maybe I'm just a little paranoid."

"Although… Dosu… Zaku…" Kin looked down, a concerned frown upon her face.

The other two turned to face her, Zaku tilting his head in questioning as he asked, "What?"

"You know how they said we had the highest scores on the test?"

Dosu and Zaku nodded.

"… I skipped a whole section on the test…. The answers aren't even filled in… So… How could I've been in the final three?"

Silence filled the room once again.

"How was it?"

Orochimaru turned towards his subordinate, a small chuckle emitting from his throat, "To tell the truth, I'm sure they were quite suspicious… Zaku was able to tell my resemblance to the disguise, and Dosu was more than suspicious to know that I was an actual teacher…"

Kabuto smiled slightly at the man standing in front of him. He watched as 'Otoshi' quickly wiped off loads of make-up from his face to reveal the principal.

"I hope your side of the plan was much more successful," Orochimaru looked disdainfully at his sleeve covered in the rubbed-off makeup.

Smiling to the other man, Kabuto nodded, "The students, as expected by you, Orochimaru, are much weaker than we expected. However, here are some you might want to be aware of."

Kabuto slid photographs onto Orochimaru's desk, pointing each corresponding picture as he said the individuals' names, "Uchiha Sasuke, brother of the infamous Uchiha Itachi who was your colleague in the human-testing facilities…"

Kabuto then pointed to another picture, "Gaara, the son of the principal at Sunaga High. Hyuuga Neji, prodigy of the Hyuuga family."

"And…" Kabuto frowned slightly, then pointed out the last picture of a blonde boy, "Uzumaki Naruto… He's obnoxious, noisy, and hated by generally all of the kids in the school. Frankly, I'm not sure how he even got into this competition. I say it's just dumb luck he was able to get placed on a team with two relatively strong teammates. But… there's something about him."

Orochimaru picked up the picture, then tossed it aside, "Hm… Well, I'm more interested in this one…" he picked up the first picture Kabuto had shown him, of Uchiha Sasuke, "I'd like to see if he wants to join Oto anytime soon… After all, I _was _a rather close fried to his brother…"

Kabuto just smiled and nodded, "I'll see if I can get more information on him."

A/N: This chapter remained half-written within my computer for quite a while. After browsing through my story stats, I was surprised at how much reviews, favorites, and all the other wonderful stuff this fic has gotten. That influenced me quite a bit to continue on with the story.

With that in mind, thank you all for supporting me! 


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